Barricade with flasher



' May 23, 1967 Filed March 12, 1965 I III B -i 55/ III! m y! m u umn u E. D. NUNN, JR

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 23, 1967 E. D. NUNN. JR

BARRICADE WITH FLASHER 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 12, 1965 May 23, 1967 E. D. NUNN, JR

BARRICADE WITH FLASHER 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 12, 1965 United States Patent OfiFice 3,321,742 Patented May 23, 1967 3,321,742 BARRICADE WETH FLASHER Ewing D. Nunn, .lia, Fullerton, (Ialii. (1163 Raymond Way, Anaheim, Calif. 92801) Filed Mar. 12, 1965, Ser. No. 439,422 7 Claims. (Cl. 340-414) This invention relates to barricades of the type equipped with flashing signal lights, of which there are many now in use on highway, street and other construction projects. An example of this type of barricade is disclosed in Patent No. 3,015,804, issued Jan. 2, 1962.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved barricade, and particularly to provide a barricade which can be serviced more readily than those heretofore available.

Barricades of the type with which the invention is concerned consist essentially of a folding frame structure having spaced apart leg units each of which has a pair of hingedly connected legs, a warning panel swingingly supported from a cross member which connects the upper ends of the spaced apart leg units, a flasher head with lenses forming the opposite sides thereof and a light bulb between these lenses which flashes on and off. A battery provides current from the lamp bulb and a flasher mechanism electrically connected between the battery and the light bulb intermittently opens and closes the circuit between the bulb and the battery.

As explained in the aforesaid patent, one of the problems manufacturers of barricades have had to overcome was to find a satisfactory way of assuring against unauthorized removal of the flasher head from the barricade.v The way this is done in the aforesaid patent is probably the best heretofore available, but ironically the very means there employed to assure against theft of the flasher introduced servicing problems which needed remedial attention. It is towards that objective that the present invention is particularly directed, and to that end it is an object of this invention to provide a barricade wherein a damaged flasher head may be quickly removed 'and replaced by someone authorized to do so and equipped with a simple, though special tool, Without disturbing the battery, the flasher mechanism or the light bulb, and without even requiring disconnection of the light bulb from the flasher mechanism.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a barricade of the character described wherein a damaged or malfunctioning flasher mechanism and/ or a dead battery may be quickly and easily replaced by authorized service personnel without disturbing the flasher head.

Another object of this invention is to provide a barricade of the character described having exceptionally good protection against weather, for the battery, the flasher mechanism and the interior of the flasher head, as well as the electrical connections therebetween.

Another object of this invention resides in the provision of a light sensitive cell forming a part of the flasher mechanism to turn the same on and off.

A further object of this invention is to provide a barricade of the character described in which the essential parts are combined in a new way which not only makes the barricade exceptionally rugged and capable of Withstanding the rough handling to which it is subjected in use, but also gives the barricade aesthetic qualities not possessed by its predecessors.

The manner in which the above enumerated objects are attained by this invention will be readily understood from the following description in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate two embodiments of this invention constructed according to the best modes thus far devised, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the complete barricade;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational View of the barricade, with parts broken away to better illustrate certain features;

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional view through FIG- URE 2 on the plane of the line 33;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical sectional view through the end portion of the barricade at which the flasher head is located, to better illustrate the manner in which the flasher head is mounted, and the flasher mechanism is protected against weather;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the same end portion of the barricade, but with the flasher mechanism withdrawn and the head lifted off, to illustrate the quick detachability of these parts for replacement when needed;

'FIGURE 5a is a perspective view of the base portion of the flasher head;

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of a group of barricades folded for transport, to show their adaptability to stacking;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary front view of one end portion of the barricade, With parts broken away and in section, illustrating a slightly modified embodiment of the invention; and

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the same end portion of the modified embodiment of the invention.

The barricade will now be described with reference to the drawings. As shown, the barricade comprises transversely spaced apart leg units 5-5 connected at the top by a rod 6 and near the bottom by stringers 7. Each leg unit consists of a pair of legs 8 hingedly connected at the top in the same way as they are in the barricade of the aforesaid Patent No. 3,015,804. Thus, the legs of each pair, which are simply lengths of angle iron, are pivoted to each other and to a short square upright tube 10 by means of a bolt 11. The rod 6 has its ends secured to the upper portions of the square tubes 10 in a way which requires a special tool for disassembly. Hence, this securement may be like that employed in the barricade of the aforesaid patent or it may be effected by screws 6' which have heads that can not be gripped by pliers but have sockets which will accept only a special Allen-head .type wrench.

The rod 6 passes longitudinally through the hollow boxlike cross bar 12 which substantially spans the distance between the opposite leg units, and is hingedly supported on the rod. For this purpose the rod passes through a round hole in an end wall 13 closing one end of the hollow cross bar and through a hole in a flange 14 of a rightangle bracket fixed to the top wall 15 of the hollow cross bar near but spaced inwardly of the opposite end of the cross bar which is open.

The flasher head 16 of the barricade is detachably mounted on the hollow cross bar 12 near the open end thereof; the battery 17 is received in the hollow cross bar; and the flasher mechanism 18 is also located in the hollow cross bar between the battery and a removable end wall or closure 19 on which the flasher mechanism is fixedly mounted.

A coil spring 20 encircles each end portion of the rod 6 between the end walls of the hollow cross bar 12 and the square tubes 10 of the leg units to space the hollow cross bar from the leg units.

The removable end wall or closure 19 is a metal plate of a size to snugly fit inside the hollow cross bar. A notch 21 in the upper end of the closure receives and embraces the rod 6, and an out-turned flange 22 on its lower end seats upon the inner face of the bottom wall 23 of the hollow cross bar. When the end wall or closure 19 is in place, its notched upper end lies flat against the outer face of the flange 14 towards which it is urged by the adjacent spring 20, and a fastening screw 24 passing through the bottom wall 23 of the cross bar and threaded into a tapped hole in the flange 22 holds the bottom end of the closure in place. The head of the screw preferably is of the type which cannot be gripped by a pair of pliers, and has a special Allen-type socket which will only accept a special tool or wrench.

Easy removal of the end wall or closure 19 once its fastening screw 24 has been removed, is one of the objectives of the invention, and in this connection it should be noted that the spring 2% performs an important part. As will be evident, especially from FIGURE 5, the yieldability of the spring enablm the closure 19 to be readily swung or rotated out of its closed position, provided of course, that the cross bar 12 has been swung out of its pendent position so that the adjacent -leg unit does not obstruct the end of the cross bar.

The flasher mechanism may be of any suitable form but in this case it includes an oscillator 25 mounted in a frame 26 which is fixed to the inner face of the end wall or closure 19. Preferably a push button type switch 27 is also mounted on the closure plate 19 with its push button in line with a small hole 28 in the plate 19 so that it may be actuated by a stiff wire inserted through the hole 28. Obviously, the switch provides means for manually turning the flasher on and otf. It can also be controlled by a light sensitive cell 29 mounted on the closure plate behind a hole therein with its sensitive element facing outwardly to be responsive to the ambient light.

Conductors, not shown, connect the oscillator, switch and light sensitive cell with a pair of female terminals 30 mounted on the frame 26 but insulated therefrom, and with a pair of polarized battery terminals 31. The ends of the battery leads 33 are readily detachably connected to the terminals 31, and the terminals 30 receive the male terminals of a pair of leads 35 that connect with a lamp socket 36 in which the light bulb 37 of the flasher head is received. Hence, the light bulb, flasher mechanism and battery may be quickly electrically disconnected from one another.

To facilitate testing the battery and the light bulb, three terminals 38, 38a and 38b are mounted on, but insulated from the closure 19. These terminals are of course electrically connected into the circuit as required to enable the battery and light bulb to be tested by touching the probes of a tester to the terminals.

Inasmuch as the hollow cross bar 12 is considerably longer than the battery, it may be desirable to place a spacer block 39 in the close end of the cross bar or otherwise limit the distance the battery can be inserted, and to keep the battery from damaging contact with the flasher mechanism, a rubber bumper 26' is fixed in the adjacent part of the frame 26.

The flasher head 16 is mounted on the top wall 15 of the hollow cross bar 12 in a way which affords good assurance against unauthorized removal but still makes replacement of a damaged head a simple matter. To this end, the flasher head which comprises a cylindrical shell- 40 and a pair of lenses 41 closing its two sides, has an oblong open-bottomed box 42 fixed to its cylindrical shell over a hole therein. This securement may be effected by a half-nut 43 threaded onto a tubular stem 44 which passes through and projects from the shell 40 and through the closed top wall of the box 42.

The box 42 embraces a plate 45 that is fixed to the top wall 15 of the cross bar 12 but spaced therefrom slightly more than the thickness of the metal of which the box is formed. One side wall of the box 42 has an inturned flange or lip 47 which engages under the adjacent edge of the plate 45, and the opposite side wall 48 of the box lies flat against an upwardly projecting flange 49 on the adjacent edge of the plate 45 when the flasher head is in its mounted position. Preferably a short lip 45 is fixed to the underside of the plate 45 and projects beyond the flange 49 to provide a stop upon which the edge of the box engages when the head is in proper position.

To removably secure the box to the plate 45 a screw 50 passes through the side wall 48 and is threaded into a tapped hole in the flange 49, and since the screw is of the type requiring use of a special tool or wrench to tighten or loosen it, unauthorized removal of the flasher head is elfectively dissuaded, but replacement of a damaged head can be quickly effected by authorized service personnel.

The manner in which the light bulb 37 is mounted and held in proper alignment with the lenses 41 enables re moval of the flasher head without requiring the lamp to be disconnected from the flasher mechanism. Thus, as shown, a plastic tube 51 having the lamp socket 36 seated in its upper end is inserted upwardly into the interior of the flasher head through the tube 44 which is fixed to and projects down from the cylindrical shell of the flasher head before the head is seated on and secured to the plate 45. The plastic tube 51 fits the tube 44 rather snugly and a flange 52 on the lower end of the plastic tube engages the end of the tube 44 to properly position the light bulb. Weather proof communication between the interior of the hollow cross bar 12 and the interior of the box 42 to accommodate the leads 35 is provided by a short sleeve or tube 53 snugly fitted into aligned holes in the plate 45 and the top wall 15 of the hollow cross bar.

One of the novel features of this invention is the fact that the hollow cross bar 12 not only houses the flasher mechanisms and the battery, but also serves as a warm- .ing barrier, to which end the cross bar has the customary attention-attracting stripes painted on its opposite sides. A panel 55 with attention-attracting painted surfaces is also hung from the underside of the hollow cross bar; and to minimize the likelihood of the barricade being tipped over by wind, the hollow cross bar is free to swing upon the rod 6 and the panel 55 swings with respect to and with the hollow cross bar.

Since the hollow cross bar constitutes the widest or thickest portion of the barricade when its legs are folded, and since the cross bar extends across the full Width of the barricade, compact stacking of a group of barricades for transportation is facilitated, as shown in FIGURE 6.

Scufiing of the surfaces of the cross bars when the barricades are thus stacked is prevented by rubber bumpers 56 fixed to opposite sides of the cross bars in staggered relation, ie one at the upper portion of one end and the other at the lower portion of the opposite end.

Although it is preferable to have the hollow cross bar 12 swingingly supported on the rod 6, the rod in effect can be combined with the cross bar as shown in FIGURES 7 and 8. In this case a stub shaft 60 is fixed to each end of the hollow cross bar and connected to the leg units as before. Preferably these stub shafts are short lengths of square rod stock with turned-down end portions 61 to provide trunnions. The square end portions 62 of these members are welded to the underside of the top wall 15 of the hollow cross bar, and have a transverse groove 63 to receive the bifurcated upper end portion of the closure plate 19.

From the foregoing description, those skilled in this art will readily see that, with this invention, it is a simple matter to remove and replace any one of the essential components of the flasher assembly. Removal of the closure plate 19 can be quickly accomplished by authorized service personnel equipped with the proper wrench to loosen the screw 23, and with it of course comes the flasher mechanism. The battery leads, as well as the leads 3-5 to the lamp socket, must be long enough to allow the removal of the flasher mechanism, and when it is removed it is a simple matter to disconnect the leads from the terminals 30 and 31. This permits a damaged or malfunctioning flasher mechanism to be replaced in a matter of minutes. It also enables the battery to be replaced within the same time.

Replacement of a damaged head is likewise the Work of but a few minutes for someone authorized to do so, since it entails only the removal of screw 50, and lifting the head off the plate 45.

It will also be seen that in many other respects the barricade of this invention constitutes an improvement over barricades heretofore available.

What is claimed as my invention is:

1. A warning barricade having a pair of spaced apart leg units, and an electrically lighted head including a lamp bulb, said barricade being characterized by:

A. a hollow cross bar having an open end;

B. means swingingly connecting the hollow cross bar above its center of gravity with the upper ends of the spaced apart leg units, with the hollow cross bar substantially spanning the distance between the leg units so that in the normal pendent position of the hollow cross bar, access to its ends is obstructed by the leg units;

C. a battery inside the hollow cross bar, said battery being insertable and removable through the open end of the hollow cross bar and providing a voltage source for energizing the lamp bulb;

D. mechanism for controlling connection of the lamp bulb with the battery;

E. a closure for the open end of the hollow cross bar;

F. means fixedly mounting the control mechanism on the inside face of the closure;

G. conductive means connecting the control mechanism with the battery and with the lamp bulb; and

H. means removably securing the closure in position closing the open end of the hollow cross bar, so that the closure can be removed to afford access to the interior of the hollow cross bar and exposure of the control mechanism when the cross bar is swung from its pendent position to a position in which access to the closure is not obstructed by the adjacent le-g unit.

2. The warning barricade of claim 1 wherein said conductive means comprises flexible wires of a length suflicient to accommodate removal of the closure from the cross bar without disturbing the fixed mounting of the control mechanism on the closure.

3. The warning barricade of claim 2, further characterized by quickly disconnectible terminal means on the control mechanism by which said flexible wires are connected with the control mechanism so that removal and replacement of the control mechanism and/ or the battery may be quickly elfected.

4. The barricade of claim 1, further characterized by an attention attracting panel swingingly supported from the underside of the cross bar.

5. The barricade of claim 2, wherein said head comprises an enclosure with lens means forming at least one side wall thereof,

an elongated tubular lamp support slidably inserted into the enclosure through a hole in the bottom thereof and containing the conductor wires which connect the lamp bulb with the control mechanism,

said conductor wires passing through a hole in the top of the hollow cross bar, and

means detachably securing the head to the top of the hollow cross bar over said hole therein, so that a damaged head may be detached from the cross bar and replaced without disturbing the control mechanism and/ or its connection with the lamp bulb.

6. The barricade of claim 5, wherein the means for detachably securing the head to the cross bar comprises a plate fixed to the top wall of the hollow cross bar in spaced relation thereto and over said hole through which the conductor wires pass,

said plate having a hole in line with the hole in the top of the cross bar,

a short tube snugly received in said holes and having said conductor wires received therein, an open-bottomed hollow base fixed to the bottom of the head enclosure with the hole in the bottom of the enclosure opening into said hollow base,

the hollow base being seated on said plate and having a weather proof connection therewith, and

means for detachably securing the hollow base to said plate.

7. The barricade of claim 6, wherein said base is in the form of an inverted box with downwardly projecting side wall means surrounding the plate, and wherein the means for detachably securing the base to the plate comprises an inturned flange on a portion of the side wall means engaging under the adjacent edge portion of the plate,

an upwardly projecting flange on the plate opposite the edge portion of the plate under which the inturned flange on the base engages, said upturned flange having a threaded hole therein, and

a screw passing through the side wall means and threaded in said hole.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,699,705 2/ 1954 Collins 3401 14 2,838,744 6/1958 De Wald 340-84 2,903,688 9/ 1959 Sorensen 340 3,015,804 1/1962 Nunn 34045 3,092,826 6/ 1963 Klingner 34045 X 3,094,802 6/ 1963 Perry 34084 X 3,130,349 4/1964 Mallory 340-331 X 3,135,468 6/1964 Osburn 340-45 X 3,221,300 11/1965 Elledge 340-331 X NEIL C. READ, Primary Examiner.

I. I. LEVIN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A WARNING BARRICADE HAVING A PAIR OF SPACED APART LEG UNITS, AND AN ELECTRICALLY LIGHTED HEAD INCLUDING A LAMP BULB, SAID BARRICADE BEING CHARACTERIZED BY: A. A HOLLOW CROSS BAR HAVING AN OPEN END; B. MEANS SWINGINGLY CONNECTING THE HOLLOW CROSS BAR ABOVE ITS CENTER OF GRAVITY WITH THE UPPER ENDS OF THE SPACED APART LEG UNITS, WITH THE HOLLOW CROSS BAR SUBSTANTIALLY SPANNING THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE LEG UNITS SO THAT IN THE NORMAL PENDENT POSITION OF THE HOLLOW CROSS BAR, ACCESS TO ITS ENDS IS OBSTRUCTED BY THE LEG UNITS; C. A BATTERY INSIDE THE HOLLOW CROSS BAR, SAID BATTERY BEING INSERTABLE AND REMOVABLE THROUGH THE OPEN END OF THE HOLLOW CROSS BAR AND PROVIDING A VOLTAGE SOURCE FOR ENERGIZING THE LAMP BULB; D. MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING CONNECTION OF THE LAMP BULB WITH THE BATTERY; E. A CLOSURE FOR THE OPEN END OF THE HOLLOW CROSS BAR; F. MEANS FIXEDLY MOUNTING THE CONTROL MECHANISM ON THE INSIDE FACE OF THE CLOSURE; G. CONDUCTIVE MEANS CONNECTING THE CONTROL MECHANISM WITH THE BATTERY AND WITH THE LAMP BULB; AND 